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Alzheimer’s Foundation Honors New York Advocate

Spectrum staff

Janet B. Walsh, a long-time advocate for individuals and families facing Alzheimer’s disease, has been named the winner of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America National Leadership Award, the foundation announced.

Walsh, a New York resident and co-founder of the Long Island Alzheimer’s Foundation, now runs MemoryConcepts, a company she started to provide information and services to optimize memory and other cognitive functions.

The Alzheimer’s Foundation said she was singled out for the national award because of her “work and devotion in helping people with Alzheimer’s disease and their families receive the resources and care to improve their quality of life” and for raising public awareness about the importance of early diagnosis and prevention of Alzheimer’s.

“There is so much exciting new research pointing to how we can keep our minds as sharp as possible as we age,” Walsh said. “At this point in my life, I would like to focus on helping people optimize their memories, and help them empower themselves by keeping their minds fit.”

Walsh, whose father and grandmother were afflicted with Alzheimer’s, created the Long Island Alzheimer’s Foundation in 1988 with four other women whose family members suffered with the memory-stealing disease.